An analysis of The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald indicated that the setting of the book contributed to the theme of money by comparing the two classes of people in the West and East egg, giving detailed descriptions of places based on the amount of money that it has, and establishing the feel of the ¨roaring twenties¨. In the first chapter, Nick introduces he is from West egg, calling it ¨ẗhe less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them¨ (Fitzgerald 5). East egg is described as being the most fashionable one, having the nickname ¨old money¨, meaning the inhabitants have achieved their wealth through inheritance, while the West egg is ¨new money¨, meaning …show more content…
On the opposite end of the spectrum, West eggers, such as Gatsby, are dreamers, …show more content…
The valley is a place devoid of money, ¨where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, [where] men move dimly and dread crumbling through the powdery air¨ (Fitzgerald 23). While the city is described as alive and brimming with energy, the valley is a place of despair and failure. George Wilson is a good symbol for the valley, where he has given up all will to do anything and fades into the dull grey surrounding him. Myrtle on the other hand has not given up, where she must “cross a vast social divide to reach the territory of the upper class” (Donaldson 192). This can be seen when she has an affair with Tom Buchanan and “pitifully attempts to put on an airs” (Donaldson 192). These extreme differences all come down to the money inside these places, where it’s made obvious the valley of ashes is a place without money and is crumbling while the city is circulating with money and is buzzing with
West Egg is where new wealth is and it means that the person who has all this money acquired it by hard work. Gatsby lives in West Egg and he spends a lot of money on parties but he does it to impress Daisy, Tom’s wife. He does it all hoping to find Daisy again knowing that she lives in East Egg. While Tom only uses his money to please himself. The personalities of the two are very different. Tom is arrogant, aggressive, dominant, and unfaithful while Gatsby is restless, delusional, innocent and mysterious. Tom only cares about himself and here’s a quote to support that claim “Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body”. Gatsby is a man who wished he was old wealth but really is
Although the citizens in the West Egg is also wealthy and consider as upper classes too, the old money is considered as the aristocracy whereas the new money is just some millionaires. The West egg citizens are described to be ostentation, garishness and flashy manner. Jay Gatsby is a representative of the new money in the novel. Gatsby was grown up on a poor farm in North Dakota. At age of 17 he left North Dakota, Gatsby left his home and met his first employer, Dan Cody. During the abandon of alcohol, Gatsby earned huge amount of money through bootlegging and committed other crimes. This made him becomes a millionaire and enters the society of the upper classes. Similar to any new money, Gatsby had personalities of extravagant and ostentation. ‘THERE was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights.’ Every Saturday nights, Gatsby holds enormous parties until midnight and anyone able to freely to attends. ‘Every Friday five crates of orange lemons arrived…… every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door.’ The night before the party starts, Gatsby will buy lots of fresh fruits to produce fresh juice for his guest. In that time fresh fruits were extremely expensive. This shows Gatsby is rich and generous. On every party nights, the servants will decorate Gatsby’s garden with light ‘....enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden. This shows Gatsby’s personality is extravagant because he was showing off his wealth through holding enormous and luxury parties for free. In Gatsby’s mansion, Gatsby never read his collection of books, he never worn his clothes from England and he never used the pool in his garden. Although Gatsby is rich as the Tom Buchanan and he had learned their manners, he could not fit himself into the lifestyle of aristocracy and learn their
The Great Gatsby represents East Egg as old money and highlights its dependence on social class. Meanwhile, West Egg represents new money and relies less on social class and more on the American dream. These two sides can help us form a theme for these two neighborhoods in The Great Gatsby. This
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are two main settings in book that are symbolic, East Egg and West Egg. East Egg represents old money and West Egg represents new money. The characters who reside in the West Egg are Nick and Gatsby. The characters who reside in the East Egg are Tom and Daisy. East is described as “... who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like goats at whosoever came near” (Fitzgerald 61). This quote means that people in the East Egg are more snobby, greedy, and mean from those who live in West Egg because they have families who had
During the roaring twenties, if you did not have wealth than you did not have success, luxury, or opportunities. In The Great Gatsby and articles, it reveals how people were entitled to things depending on their wealth. Wealth was represented as success and royalty other than something you work hard for and earn.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses West Egg and East Egg as a symbol for class systems to reveal the differences between the two social classes. The difference between the two social classes are vast. East Egg refers to whom came into wealth. West Egg refers to whom carried down wealth from traditional upper-class families. During the 20th century, East Egg residents were more prestigious. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you had (Fitzgerald 1).” Many wealthy people were born into wealth. Some wealthy are born poor but had to earn their way up. “And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool(Fitzgerald 30).” Women who were housewives in the 1920s didn’t get as much respect as Men did (BBC 7). “An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit (Fitzgerald 110).”
In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald there is an emphasis on the differences between the two neighborhoods, East Egg and West Egg. When it came to both of the neighborhood they both had similar characteristics, but, they differed more than anything. A prime example of how different they are are Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. They both are from separate eggs and live very different lifestyles. Through the emphasis on setting the author created a clear contrast between the two neighborhoods.
Sammi Williamson Tollett 4th Block 25 April 2024 The Egg Seems to Come First Throughout the course of the novel The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, the various settings seen throughout the book lead to show how the events unfold as well as the motivation of the characters behind those events. The settings help with understanding the characteristics Fitzgerald uses throughout the entire novel and highlights how he saw New York in the 1920s. Both West and East Eggs serve as symbolism for both Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan with how the Eggs are perceived by Nick Carraway. The Valley of Ashes is used to represent the social clashes along with moral decline during the 1920s.
However, the eggs are dissimilar in “every way except shape and size.” On West Egg, “the less fashionable of the two,” the houses are built with no regard to codes or restrictions, as Nick's house is a bungalow sandwiched between two mansions. By contrast, the houses on fashionable East Egg “glittered” with “white palaces.” We see the difference between new money, with the possible implication of lack of refinement or class (West Egg), and old money, with well-groomed houses and lawns accompanying well-groomed residents, well-mannered who, on the surface, are characterized by gentility (East Egg). The West Egg residents symbolize pioneers, in its diverse melting pot neighborhood, taking on the persona of the old west, a land founded for the solo reason for the fulfillment of dreams. On the other hand, in East Egg, the inhabitants take the pleasure of not working, where making the most money without any effort is their aspiration. The theme of wealth flourishes throughout both areas, although different in various ways, with this wealth, each character has their own motivations such as Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, various factors affect the class to which a character belongs to; such as wealth, social status, and political power. Furthermore, Fitzgerald portrays the era of the 1920’s as a corrupt society which thrives to impress other individuals with their materialistic possessions. The setting of the novel expands through four different suburbs, each with distinct classes. East Egg and West Egg are both communities of wealth, which contrast each other by how an individual builds their capital. Potentially, a person of any background could make a fortune, but families belonging to the category of American Aristocracy earn their fortune from inheritance .
The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald has many different settings from the very start. In chapter one the story begins explaining where the narrator Nick lives and then goes on to reflect on where Mr. Gatsby lives. Both characters live in New York, but each of the characters live in different sections. Nick lives in West Egg Village, with is where more middle class or modest people tend to live. Mr. Gatsby lives in East Egg Village the complete opposite of West Egg, people who live in East Egg have more of a exorbitant and exaggerated way of living. One thing that stood out the most was the actuality of people who have the capability to live in a part of New York and be apart of the middle class. It seems uncommon to live in that
West Eggers are the newly rich; the people who have worked hard and earned their money in a short period of time. Their wealth is epitomized on material possessions. Gatsby, like the West Eggers, lacks the traditions of the East Eggers. He is considered 'new money', in the sense that his wealth came to him more recently through his own success. Although Gatsby is now a part of this class, his faith and belief in the success of his dreams has allowed him to preserve some morality. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, lives in West Egg and exhibits honesty in this place of superficiality. Clearly the West is able to preserve some ethics while the East is not able to grasp any. Although West Egg is the more moral, it is still a place of superficiality and materialism.
Through dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms with sunken baths. The dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold. P.96-97" Tom and Daisy also live in a mansion which is Georgian Colonial, which establishes their status as "old money" characters. The people living in the "valley of the ashes" depict a third class. The "valley of ashes is described as " a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat in ridges…where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys". Myrtle and George Wilson are the inhabitants in the "valley of ashes", which is depicted as a wasteland. They live in a car garage which, shows that they live a common or impoverished existence in the desolate wasteland of the "valley of ashes". The Wilson's financial and physical environment instructs their distance from characters like Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway in every way, including their lack of education and class. In this way, Fitzgerald emphasizes major monetary differences through materialistic as well as solidifying the premise for ideological differences.
The social group West Egg represents the corruption of the American Dream, during the 1920’s. Fitzgerld describes West Egg as a home for the newly rich. This is a place where people who have recently become fortunate live. It is a place that represents new money. New money portrays the image of the corruption of the American Dream by showing how the people strived for acquiring only material goods. It made attaining material goods their goal in life. In addition, people in the 1920’s connected the American Dream to making quick money. In The Great Gatsby many of the residents that lived in West Egg became fortunate through illegal methods, such as bootlegging alcohol or gambling. Fitzgerld shows this through the character Gatsby. Gatsby’s goal was to become wealthy so that he could win Daisy’s love. By selling stolen alcohol Gatsby was able to mange to rise up to the top of the upper class and live in West Egg. The want for money and power to achieve love shows the decay of the American Dream. The parties that were held at West Egg also represent the corruption of the American Dream. The parties that Gatsby threw were huge and glamorous. Everyone from West and East Egg would attend these parties. They had no care for who Gatsby was. Rather, they only cared that he was someone who was extremely
One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce,